Extent

Overview

A collection of specimens of California die-cut printing.

Biographical / Historical

Die-cutting developed during the Industrial Revolution. In the mid-19th century, die-cutting machines were introduced for the mass production of materials, most notably the manufacturing of shoes, the technology eventually extended to printing.

Advertisers quickly realized that the unique shapes captured viewer's attention, which is, of course, the primary goal of advertising. Sometimes the subject matter related directly to what was being sold and at other items, it had no relation to the image being advertised.